{"id":8713,"date":"2018-05-24T11:28:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T18:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=8713"},"modified":"2018-05-24T11:28:46","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T18:28:46","slug":"in-defense-of-political-extremism-us-versus-them-versus-neoliberal-ideology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/05\/24\/in-defense-of-political-extremism-us-versus-them-versus-neoliberal-ideology\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of Political Extremism: \u2018Us Versus Them\u2019 Versus Neoliberal Ideology"},"content":{"rendered":"
May 22, 2018 (John Laurits.com)<\/div>\n
\n

\"USThe term \u2018black and white\u2019 is often used to label ways of thinking that are considered dismissive, narrow-minded, or simplistic. Informing someone that \u201cthe world isn\u2019t split into black and white\u201d is often used to suggest a person has failed to think outside of the box or is trapped in a false dilemma. Though black-and-white, \u2018us versus them,\u2019 and similar labels can certainly be used as handy substitutes for pompous-sounding terms like\u00a0causal-reductionism<\/em>, they also prop up one of the core delusions of the\u00a0neoliberal ideology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Meaning of \u2018Neoliberalism\u2019 & \u2018Ideology<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

First, a few words about a few words. Because the words \u2018liberal,\u2019 \u2018neoliberal,\u2019 and \u2018ideology\u2019 are all used in a few different ways, it seems worthwhile to clarify how each is being used here to avoid confusion.<\/p>\n

The Meaning of \u2018Ideology\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

A lot of people nowadays use \u2018ideology\u2019 to mean \u2018worldview\u2019 or \u2018belief-system.\u2019 In this post, however, it refers to\u00a0traditions, philosophies, conventions, \u2018common sense,\u2019 and customary beliefs that justify how a society functions<\/em>.\u200b For example, people in one society enjoy stories about the present ruler\u2019s heroic ancestors and people in another society feel a sense of honor in upholding a tradition of obeying their elders. Each idea offers a way to make sense of the particular ways their society does things \u2014\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0is ideology. Like the genes copied by living organisms to reproduce themselves, ideology is a set of notions that leads members of a society to replicate its particular social and organizational patterns.\u00a0Whether obedience to elders is a good system or not, the notion of it being the basis for collective honor helps to ensure that tradition continues.<\/p>\n

\"Base<\/a>Ideology can show up almost anywhere but it is often found masquerading as \u2018common sense\u2019 and lurking under popular ideas. \u2018Bigger is better\u2019 may be common sense in societies fueled by consumerism but it would seem like\u00a0nonsense<\/em>\u00a0in a nomadic society. Components of ideology that are central to one system may be incompatible with or even toxic to another.<\/p>\n

Neoliberalism in a Nutshell<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

The central idea of\u00a0liberalism<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is that government\u2019s main role is to ensure the liberty of the individual by upholding (more-or-less) free markets, free trade, and rights like the freedom to own property, free speech, religious freedom, free association, etc. Notice a pattern? While classical liberalism at least recognizes a need for limited government, the\u00a0neoliberal<\/em>\u00a0ideal is to basically let the private sector run everything, including government. Neoliberalism replaces public schools with private-voucher systems, lets private firms run public infrastructure for profit, grants\u00a0\u2018rights\u2019 to non-human corporations<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 that sort of thing.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell,\u00a0neoliberalism sees reality itself as a big market.<\/p>\n

Black & White & Us Versus Them:
\nHow Extremism Subverts Neoliberal Ideology<\/em><\/h2>\n

\u201cWashing one\u2019s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral\u201d
\n\u2014 Paulo Freire<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Returning to the topic at hand \u2014 the notion that extremist politics are bad is widely accepted as common sense in the technically-advanced, capitalist USA. This is particularly true among the rich white intelligentsia usually hired by media to referee the nation\u2019s political discourse. But this anti-extremist bias is problematic, to say the least.<\/p>\n

\u2018Black & White Thinking\u2019 in Science, Philosophy, & Art<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cOpposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony\u201d \u2014 Heraclitus<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7<\/a>One of the more glaring issues with assuming black-and-white views are less valid is the fact that scientists observe binary, either\/or, and zero-sum phenomena in the natural world all the time. Physical reality is built from opposing forces \u2014 electric current arises from opposite charges, the elements are all configurations of the same two positive and negative particles, and atomic properties depend on whether the number of nucleons is even or odd. Deductive logic (the thing Sherlock Holmes uses to solve mysteries) depends on a binary notion that statements have\u00a0truth values<\/em>, i.e. that statements like \u2018Egypt is in Africa\u2019 are either true or not and that nothing is\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0in-Africa\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0not-in-Africa at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7<\/a><\/p>\n

Science also shows the cosmos is full of continua, spectra, and shades of grey, of course \u2014 the point is that both kinds of thinking are useful. Some stuff is clearly a spectrum \u2014 color, gender, electromagnetism, and so on \u2014 and other stuff can only be grasped in binary terms. Artists use both all the time, melding binaries like foreground-background and center-periphery with spectra like hue, shade, tint, and tone to form a unified meaning. Each mode has its uses in art, logic, and science.<\/p>\n

And then, there\u2019s\u00a0politics<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Political Taboo of Extremism<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe question is not whether we will be extremists but what kind of extremists we will be\u201d
\n\u2014 Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While no one is blasted for\u00a0overly-gradated opinions<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0excessive nuance<\/em>, people are flayed left and right for views seen as\u00a0polarizing<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0divisive<\/em>,\u00a0black-and-white thinking<\/em>, using terms of \u2018us\u2019 and \u2018them<\/em>,\u2019 and\u00a0extremism<\/em>. These kinds of views are unwelcome in politics. The political realm appears to be ruled by special laws that differ from those of logic, science, and art.<\/p>\n

When a person is told she has an \u2018us versus them\u2019 mindset, it implies that the idea of \u2018us\u2019 opposing \u2018them\u2019 is unreasonable or unwarranted. By stating the critique as a matter of fact, the critic also implies that such a view itself is evidence that she failed to grasp \u2018the real issue\u2019 \u2014 or, even worse, that she is too stupid to grasp it or too churlish to care. The exasperated sigh that \u201cthings aren\u2019t so black and white\u201d is meant to rebuke a person for refusing to compromise with the implied shades of grey, all of which are apparently presumed to be equally valid.<\/p>\n

As a result of this broad dismissal of extremist or uncompromising views, those who hold them also learn to hold their tongues while moderates and other grown-ups bravely hold the lines on either side of every trivial shade of reform imaginable.<\/p>\n

A Brief Look at \u2018Extremism\u2019 in History<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cIt is a world of clashing interests \u2013 war against peace, nationalism against internationalism, equality against greed, and democracy against elitism \u2013 and it seems to me both impossible and undesirable to be neutral in those conflicts\u201d
\n\u2014 Howard Zinn<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But why is framing an issue in terms of us-versus-them automatically wrong? Is history not full of examples of one group being oppressed by others with greater power and did the oppressed not often find justice only in open conflict and uncompromising opposition to the interest of groups who benefited by their oppression?\u200b Martin Luther King Jr seemed to think so \u2014 in his\u00a0Letter From Birmingham Jail<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, King reflected on being called an \u2018extremist\u2019 for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: \u2018Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.\u2019 Was not Amos an extremist for justice: \u2018Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.\u2019 [\u2026] And [was not] Abraham Lincoln [an extremist]: \u2018This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

130 years before King sat in that cell, the radical abolitionist and writer\u00a0William Lloyd Garrison<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0was labeled an extremist in the 1830s for stubbornly insisting that enslaved Black people should be freed immediately. To his critics, Garrison\u00a0replied<\/strong><\/a>: \u201cI am aware that many object to the severity of my language;\u00a0but is there not cause for severity?<\/em>\u201d Activists who struggled for women\u2019s suffrage and opponents of Jim Crow were also\u00a0criticized for extremism<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in their day.<\/p>\n

\"yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7<\/a><\/p>\n

How Extremist Politics Subvert Neoliberalism<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing\u201d
\n\u2014 Albert Einstein<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These false critiques are all rooted in the ideological heart of neoliberalism \u2014 :\u00a0unshakable faith in the market<\/em>. From within the neoliberal framework, \u2018the market\u2019 is not just the free market or even market-economics generally but an idealized market-principle<\/em>\u00a0more akin to a law of nature than to a human artifice. Of all liberties, the most holy is the liberty for private individuals to partake in the market with as little oversight as possible. The underlying ideological premise is that a\u00a0perfect<\/em>\u00a0free market \u2014 that is, a\u00a0perfectly unregulated<\/em>\u00a0market\u2013 produces the best result possible and that intervening always has a negative effect in spite of any noble intention.<\/p>\n

\"yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7<\/a>This also applies to other \u2018markets\u2019 like the\u00a0marketplace of ideas<\/em>\u00a0where any censure of free speech presumably harms the debate. Liberal notions of \u2018diversity\u2019 also approach culture as a market with the ideal \u201cmelting pot\u201d being an imagined result of differing ways of life, religions, and customs freely competing.\u200b This neoliberal logic requires every individual, private enterprise, and political view to be treated as equally valid or, at least, with equal respect. Since intervention always favors some individuals over others, intervening is an abomination to the neoliberal commentariat, which is why they become so\u00a0upset with people who punch\u00a0literal Nazis<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Beneath the concern for free speech is an ideological fear \u2014 if people can intervene in the market of ideas against Nazism for ethical reasons, why not intervene in private enterprise against fossil fuel or insurance companies for ethical reasons?<\/p>\n

How Extremism Contradicts the Market\u2019s Logic<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

This is where extremist views and refusals to compromise come to an impasse with the neoliberal ideology. Ex-President Obama put it well by saying, \u201cAmerica is the union leader and the CEO who put aside their differences to make the economy stronger.\u201d This is about as neoliberal as rhetoric can get. If a person takes the view \u2014 as many US Americans do \u2014 that the right of workers to the fruits of their labor and to decent living-standards are more important and valid than an already-wealthy CEO\u2019s right to profit, it conflicts with the CEO\u2019s \u2018liberty.\u2019 Telling this CEO to get stuffed is not only uncompromising \u2014 it is \u2018un-American.\u2019 Also uncompromising is the position that the health of the environment is always 1,000% more important than all investors\u2019 portfolios put together. Or the idea that the bosses and the Wall Street investors \u2014 \u2018them\u2019 \u2014 really do share interests that are fundamentally opposed to the interests of workers, aka \u2018us.\u2019<\/p>\n

Non-Extremist Resistance Will Always Be Bullshit<\/h2>\n

\u201cWhen you are right, you cannot be too radical\u201d
\n\u2014 MLK<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oppression never grows from nothing. Each instance of oppression expresses a relation of power arising from conflict between\u00a0social classes<\/strong><\/a>with opposing interests. All of that \u2014 class, power, conflict \u2014 depends on the specific forms of social and economic architecture that presently exist in the society. It depends, in other words, on all that ideology exists to preserve and replicate \u2014 that, and\u00a0your consent<\/em>\u00a0to the status quo.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeutral\u201d Politics & a Parable About Flowers<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Each particular thing depends on forces outside itself to exist. A flower, for example, depends on water and light in certain amounts, a specific type of soil, insects to pollinate it, and other forces that cannot be separated without destroying the flower. All of it \u2013\u00a0water, soil, light<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 is as much a part of a flower as its petals and those who disagree should try removing one. But each of these in turn depends on its own set of forces\u2013 water, for instance, may increase or decrease due to irrigation, climate change, and many other factors. Flowers do not grow from soil alone but in the center of a cosmic tug-of-war between multitudes of forces. Even slight disturbances to this web might alter what types are able to grow or make their growth impossible altogether.<\/p>\n

Now, rather than flowers, think of society,\u00a0its institutions, and all the various forms they take. Replace water, sun, pollinators, and other component-forces with you, me, our neighborhoods and apartment buildings, investors, workers, bosses, cops, and every other cell that makes up the body of society. The institutions of oppression that have grown up around and inside us \u2014 mass incarceration,\u00a0economic exploitation<\/strong><\/a>, the terror of\u00a0the police state<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 all depend on this social configuration staying the way it is. Conditions of oppression ever depend on\u00a0our neutrality \u2014 on our non-intervention. And so ideology whispers \u2014\u00a0be neutral<\/em>. And if\u00a0being<\/em>\u00a0neutral is impossible, then at least\u00a0act<\/em>\u00a0neutral \u2014 no interventions. What, are you some kind of extremist?<\/p>\n

\"Political<\/a><\/p>\n

Be an Extremist!<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

\u201cIndeed, it is impossible to be neutral. In a world already moving in certain directions, where wealth and power are already distributed in certain ways, neutrality means accepting the way things are now\u201d
\n\u2014 Howard Zinn<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today\u2019s politicians would probably say that people like King were mis-labeled as extremists but the truth is that King was not just an extremist \u2014 he was\u00a0an open and unrepentant extremist<\/em>. The worst kind. Neoliberal doctrine, however, requires extremists to be\u00a0bad<\/em>\u00a0and MLK was clearly\u00a0good<\/em>, which forces politicians to devise a story that resolves the contradiction. But no matter how many times they say 2 + 2 = 5, the sum is 4, was 4, ever will be 4, and Rev. Dr. King remains the same unapologetic extremist he told us he was in that cell.<\/p>\n

He knew that some things are black and white and that every position is not equal \u2014 that sometimes it really is us versus them.<\/p>\n

In solidarity,<\/em>
\nJohn Laurits<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 22, 2018 (John Laurits.com) The term \u2018black and white\u2019 is often used to label ways of thinking that are considered dismissive, narrow-minded, or simplistic. Informing someone that \u201cthe world isn\u2019t split into black and white\u201d is often used to suggest a person has failed to think outside of the… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8713"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8714,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8713\/revisions\/8714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}